Cooper senior Tyler Morris leaps in front of Bowling Green's Nacarius Fant for a key interception in the endzone in the second half of the Class 5A state final Dec. 1.

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After all the postgame pleasantries and posing for pictures, the players on the Cooper High School football team lingered in a large group for several minutes, not wanting to leave the field at Western Kentucky University.

Then, they stood up as one, and senior A.J. Collins led the entire team off the field together, the same way they had played the state championship game: As one unit.

The family aspect got the Jaguars to the Class 5A state championship, but couldn't push them over the top as they fell 34-20 to Bowling Green Dec. 1. The Purples, playing two miles from their campus, finished 15-0 ...